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Thunder City goes green and the first winners of 2024 are Cryderman, Chernosky, Simpson and Bolt

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO (May 23) - Cole Chernosky, David Simpson, Joel Cryderman and Kyle Bolt notched season-opener victories at Thunder City Speedway Thursday, as the track opened the gates to its 2024 WISSOTA Dirt Track Series race season.

In the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, the feature was led early on by Trenton Woodbeck. A caution several laps into the race reracked the field and on the restart, Simpson began to challenge Woodbeck for the lead briefly, with Tanner Henderson and Cole Chernosky in a dog fight for third.

As laps progressed, Woodbeck had a healthy advantage at the halfway mark. A caution for Kolby Reed regrouped the field.

Woodbeck led the field back to the start, but was immediately engaged in a back-and-forth tussle for the top spot with Simpson. Simpson grabbed the lead for good on the following lap, while Woodbeck felt pressure from eighth-starter Cole Chernosky for second. A caution fell about a lap later for a dustup farther back in the field.

Simpson led the field back to green, ahead of Woodbeck, Chernosky, Ulakovic and Henderson in the top five. Simpson drove out to the advantage, as it was three wide for second; Woodbeck retained the spot. Another caution brought the field back together once again.

Simpson led the restart, with Woodbeck in second and Chernosky and Ulakovic fighting for third. Another caution led to a yellow and checkered flag finish, and Simpson was the winner. The final official running order gave Chernosky second, Ulakovic was third, Tanner Henderson was fourth and Glen Brown was fifth.

A couple early restarts in the WISSOTA Street Stocks kept the field at a stop-and-go pace, with Cory Ward the early leader, under heavy pressure from Johnny Staal for the spot. Darren Wolframe was third.

As the leaders battled through lapped traffic, Ward had to then contend with Wolframe. Staal was third, Brendan Makkinga was fourth and Kyle Bolt was fifth in a cluster of cars fighting for top-five spots just behind the leaders. Andrew Piilo was also in contention.

Wolframe broke away from the pack a bit with Ward in second. Bolt moved to third, and looked ahead to the leaders. A caution for Spencer Reid reset the field, with nine laps of 15 complete.

Following the restart, Bolt took the lead, driving out to a healthy advantage over Wolframe. Ward was third, Piilo was fourth and Staal was fifth.

Bolt continued on and drove off to the win, Wolframe was second, Piilo was third, Ward finished fourth and Staal completed the top five.

Danny Young was the early leader in the WISSOTA Super Stock feature, with Chernosky and John Toppozini sliding each other back and forth for second. Rick Simpson and Andrew Groom held top-five spots. A caution for Josh Oleksuk regrouped the field with two laps scored.

Following the restart, Chernosky moved in to challenge Young for the top spot, moving alongside the leader just before another caution halted his progress. A caution on the following restart kept the field slowed.

Chernosky used the restart to grab the lead, with Young in second, Toppozini in third, and Rick Simpson in fourth.

Chernosky set sail along the top side of the track, as the top-five runners spread out along the same lane. Another caution fell with five laps to go.

Chernosky continued his advantage out front to the checkered flag, taking the victory ahead of Simpson, who moved his way into second on a final restart with two to go. Toppozini was third, Nathan Roy was fourth and Groom in fifth.

In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Colin Chaschuk and Curtis Stiehl led the field to green. Chaschuk drove into the lead, as Riley Matthews was second. Joel Cryderman and John Toppozini were side by side for third. Matthews used the middle of the track to blast by Chaschuk, and then he drove away from the rest of the field.

Cryderman moved to second, Chaschuk was third, Toppozini was fourth, and Chernosky was fifth.

As the laps passed by, Cryderman began to chip away at Matthews’ lead.

At the halfway point, Cryderman was in striking distance; with just one lap left, Cryderman slid by Matthews and gained control, hanging on to the checkered flag. Matthews had to settle for second, Toppozini was third, Chernosky was fourth and Scott McKinnon completed the official top-five rundown following post-race tech.

In the track’s Hornet class, Micheal Shalley was victorious.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 51-Joel Cryderman[6]; 2. 9-Riley Matthews[3]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[4]; 4. 33C-Cole Chernosky[7]; 5. 27-Scott McKinnon[8]; 6. 146-Dan Bertrand[5]; 7. 32C-Curtis Stieh[2]; 8. 15-Adam Dennhardt[9]; 9. 1-Greg Foglia[10]; 10. (DQ) 621-Colin Chaschuk[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Curtis Stieh[3]; 2. 51-Joel Cryderman[4]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[2]; 4. 146-Dan Bertrand[5]; 5. (DNF) 27-Scott McKinnon[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[1]; 2. 621-Colin Chaschuk[4]; 3. 9-Riley Matthews[2]; 4. 1-Greg Foglia[5]; 5. (DNF) 15-Adam Dennhardt[3]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[5]; 2. 77-Rick Simpson[7]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[4]; 4. 22R-Nathan Roy[3]; 5. 15G-Andrew Groom[1]; 6. 37J-Tyler Wade[10]; 7. 07-Jeremy Britten[11]; 8. 219-Ryan House[6]; 9. 37A-Danny Young[2]; 10. 24-Josh Oleksuk[13]; 11. (DNF) 95-MacKenzie Holmwood[12]; 12. (DNF) 498-Tanner House[9]; 13. (DNS) 70-David Simpson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 2. 22R-Nathan Roy[1]; 3. 219-Ryan House[4]; 4. 15G-Andrew Groom[5]; 5. 498-Tanner House[6]; 6. 24-Josh Oleksuk[7]; 7. 95-MacKenzie Holmwood[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[4]; 2. 37A-Danny Young[6]; 3. 70-David Simpson[3]; 4. T23-John Toppozini[5]; 5. 37J-Tyler Wade[2]; 6. 07-Jeremy Britten[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 70-David Simpson[4]; 2. 33C-Cole Chernosky[8]; 3. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[7]; 4. 40-Tanner Henderson[3]; 5. 67-Glen Brown[2]; 6. 31J-Mike Jacques[15]; 7. 2-Dan Tocheri[5]; 8. 6-Joel Macleod[22]; 9. 10D-Patrick Davis[12]; 10. 47-Don Craig[18]; 11. 32C-Curtis Stieh[23]; 12. 97-Mark Earl[16]; 13. M17-Matthew Mitchell[17]; 14. 17-Rob Groom[13]; 15. 26-Paul Hari[24]; 16. 9-Reuben Thomas[20]; 17. 3DJR-Kyle Monteith[10]; 18. (DNF) 146-Dan Bertrand[9]; 19. (DNF) M20-Travis MacArthur[11]; 20. (DNF) 15K-Jeff Kelly[21]; 21. (DNF) 3D-Kevin Monteith[14]; 22. (DNF) 89-Kolby Reed[6]; 23. (DNF) 11-Kevin Armstrong[19]; 24. (DQ) 00-Trenton Woodbeck[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Tanner Henderson[2]; 2. 33C-Cole Chernosky[3]; 3. 146-Dan Bertrand[4]; 4. 17-Rob Groom[7]; 5. M17-Matthew Mitchell[5]; 6. 80-Doug Wakefield[1]; 7. 15K-Jeff Kelly[6]; 8. 13-Ted Horst[8]; 9. (DNF) 44-Bryce Melanson[9]; 10. (DNF) 32S-Connor Stieh[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Kolby Reed[4]; 2. 67-Glen Brown[3]; 3. 3DJR-Kyle Monteith[1]; 4. 3D-Kevin Monteith[8]; 5. 47-Don Craig[2]; 6. 6-Joel Macleod[5]; 7. 26-Paul Hari[7]; 8. 32C-Curtis Stieh[9]; 9. 49-Derek Ross[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 70-David Simpson[4]; 2. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[7]; 3. M20-Travis MacArthur[6]; 4. 31J-Mike Jacques[3]; 5. 11-Kevin Armstrong[2]; 6. 27B-Dave DeVente[5]; 7. 723-Wayne deBruin[8]; 8. 99D-Ben DeFoy[1]; 9. (DNF) 18-Hunter Brink[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Dan Tocheri[2]; 2. 00-Trenton Woodbeck[5]; 3. 10D-Patrick Davis[3]; 4. 97-Mark Earl[7]; 5. 9-Reuben Thomas[6]; 6. 56-Keith LaPlante[4]; 7. 95-Connor Moro[8]; 8. (DNS) 14C-Colby Petrunak

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 15K-Jeff Kelly[3]; 2. 32C-Curtis Stieh[5]; 3. 80-Doug Wakefield[1]; 4. 723-Wayne deBruin[4]; 5. 14C-Colby Petrunak[6]; 6. (DNF) 49-Derek Ross[7]; 7. (DNF) 18-Hunter Brink[8]; 8. (DNF) 27B-Dave DeVente[2]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Joel Macleod[1]; 2. 26-Paul Hari[3]; 3. 56-Keith LaPlante[2]; 4. 13-Ted Horst[4]; 5. 99D-Ben DeFoy[5]; 6. 32S-Connor Stieh[8]; 7. 95-Connor Moro[7]; 8. (DNS) 44-Bryce Melanson

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 77-Kyle Bolt[6]; 2. 96W-Darren Wolframe[4]; 3. 24-Andrew Piilo[7]; 4. 32-Cory Ward[1]; 5. 555-Johnny Staal[2]; 6. 426-Brendan Makkinga[3]; 7. 35-Nathan Henny[5]; 8. 1JT-Justin Tougas[10]; 9. 12SB-Scott Gregory[11]; 10. 25-Kat Luretig[12]; 11. 6R-Spencer Reid[13]; 12. 3B-BJ Kapush[8]; 13. 9E-Cameron Ellis[21]; 14. 17A-David Mitchell[14]; 15. 88-Steven Hitchman[9]; 16. 17-Don Mitchell[15]; 17. 73-Freddy Henny[16]; 18. S13-Mike Stover[19]; 19. 2-Charlie Merkley[18]; 20. 25R-Ricky Reid[23]; 21. (DNF) 16-Teagan Britten[20];

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 555-Johnny Staal[2]; 2. 77-Kyle Bolt[8]; 3. 426-Brendan Makkinga[3]; 4. 1JT-Justin Tougas[7]; 5. 6R-Spencer Reid[5]; 6. 73-Freddy Henny[1]; 7. 2-Charlie Merkley[4]; 8. (DNF) 9E-Cameron Ellis[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96W-Darren Wolframe[2]; 2. 35-Nathan Henny[4]; 3. 24-Andrew Piilo[1]; 4. 12SB-Scott Gregory[7]; 5. 17A-David Mitchell[6]; 6. 17G-Adam Gamble[5]; 7. S13-Mike Stover[3]; 8. 16-Teagan Britten[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Cory Ward[3]; 2. 3B-BJ Kapush[5]; 3. 88-Steven Hitchman[1]; 4. 25-Kat Luretig[4]; 5. 17-Don Mitchell[6]; 6. (DNF) 9-Jack Williamson[8]; 7. (DNS) 51-Aaron Sacek; 8. (DQ) 25R-Ricky Reid[2]

Hornets:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 8X-Micheal Shalley[4]; 2. 21N-Nate Owen[2]; 3. 22-Jesse Owen[7]; 4. 21-James Cuthbertson[6]; 5. 26B-Rick Breukelman[1]; 6. 34-Selena Owen[9]; 7. 11-Carrie Allen[5]; 8. 220-Sacha Torkkeli[19]; 9. 16-Avery Chaschuk[20]; 10. 23-Jimmy Owen[13]; 11. 105-Carter Wieringa[16]; 12. 95-Kristina Moro[21]; 13. 44J-Jessica Mina[11]; 14. 37-Connor Danylko[15]; 15. 21D-Dayla Haliuk[14]; 16. 23X-Taylor Scaffeo[17]; 17. (DNF) 26-Martin Bolt[8]; 18. (DNF) 12SB-Jackson Gregory[10]; 19. (DNF) 66-Sydney Chaschuk[3]; 20. (DNF) 09-Joshua Kruzel[12]; 21. (DNF) 5-Hunter Marshall[18]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 26B-Rick Breukelman[3]; 2. 11-Carrie Allen[4]; 3. 21N-Nate Owen[6]; 4. 12SB-Jackson Gregory[1]; 5. 09-Joshua Kruzel[2]; 6. 37-Connor Danylko[7]; 7. (DNF) 5-Hunter Marshall[5]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 8X-Micheal Shalley[4]; 2. 34-Selena Owen[1]; 3. 26-Martin Bolt[3]; 4. 16-Avery Chaschuk[7]; 5. 23-Jimmy Owen[2]; 6. 105-Carter Wieringa[5]; 7. 23X-Taylor Scaffeo[6]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Jesse Owen[6]; 2. 66-Sydney Chaschuk[3]; 3. 21-James Cuthbertson[4]; 4. 44J-Jessica Mina[5]; 5. 21D-Dayla Haliuk[2]; 6. 95-Kristina Moro[7]; 7. (DNF) 220-Sacha Torkkeli[1]